Saturday, June 27, 2015

When I was visiting my sister in Maryland a few weeks ago, we enjoyed getting to watch a family of bunnies living in her backyard. It was hard to get a picture of the babies because every time they came out, they darted back under the trees before I could get a good shot. I did manage to zoom in on one of the parents munching on some grass though.

Friday, June 26, 2015

We had some pretty blue skies with just a few white puffy clouds last weekend for our boat ride on the Wakulla River. My two oldest grandkids were too busy looking for alligators in the water to look up though.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Wakulla Springs is one of the largest and deepest fresh water springs in the world. The water temperature remains a relatively constant 70 degrees (F) year-round. On a day as hot as last Saturday was, how could I say no to my grandchildren when they wanted to cool off? I told them they could wade at the edge of the water since we had not brought their swim suits, but as you can see from the pictures, that didn't last long. They were drenched by the time we were ready to leave! I'm linking this post to Good Fences only because of the rope with the blue floats that is separating the swimming area from the deeper part of the river. That is sort of a fence right? It does let the alligators know to stay out of the swimming area. In the last picture, you can see my grandson waving to the people on the passing boat, which is one of the same boats we rode earlier in the afternoon.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

This sign was near the swimming area at Wakulla Springs State Park. Yes people swim in the same water with the alligators I showed you yesterday, but no worries, the alligators know they are not allowed in the swimming area! We didn't see any manatees, but they live there too. Linking to signs, signs.

This Anhinga was standing on an old cypress stump drying his wings as we passed by on our boat ride down the river.

We also passed a Great Blue Heron and White Ibis toward the end of our boat ride. Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

I'm back from a fun but exhausting break and had a wonderful time having all three of my grandkids with me last week. Last Saturday, I took the my two oldest (11 and 7) on a boat ride at Wakulla Springs State Park which is located just south of Tallahassee. My grandson says he counted 16 alligators on our little trip, but I think there were more. I managed to get a few pictures of some of them, but I apologize in advance that they are not as clear as I would have liked. It's difficult to zoom in on a moving alligator from a moving boat while trying to keep your grandkids from leaning too far over the side and falling in the water with the gators (not to mention snakes which I did not take pictures of). We had so much fun!

Friday, June 12, 2015

Today I am continuing to show pictures of my visit to Fort McHenry in Baltimore last week.

Flag flying over Fort McHenry. It is an exact replica of the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the words to what would become the National Anthem of the United States. It has 15 stars, 13 representing the original 13 colonies and one each for Kentucky and Vermont, the only other states that had been admitted to the Union at the time of the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. Linking this shot to SkyWatch Friday.

Fireplace and stairs inside one of the rooms in the soldiers' barracks.

Beds inside the soldiers' barracks. You can't really tell from the picture, but these beds were really short.

Firewood outside the door on the porch of the soldiers' barracks.

That barn shaped building between the officers' quarters on the left and the commanding officer's quarters on the right is a magazine (used to store ammunition) which was constructed after the war.

Note: I will be taking another break for the next week because my two oldest grandchildren will be visiting from Orlando. I am so excited that my house will be full of kids again and I'm pretty sure I won't have time for blogging!

Thursday, June 11, 2015

I am continuing to show pictures from my trip last week to Baltimore and here are a few from our visit to Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine. Fort McHenry is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when United States soldiers at the fort successfully defended the harbor from an attack by the British Navy in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Baltimore on September 13-14, 1814. The valiant defense of the fort inspired Francis Scott Key to write a poem called "The Star Spangled Banner" which was later set to music and became the National Anthem of the United States.

As we were walking up to the fort, I saw this fence and immediately knew I had to take a picture of it for Theresa and her Good Fences meme. It is located between the fort and the harbor.

After I took the first picture, I turned to my left and got this shot of the Francis Scott Key bridge in the distance. It was a beautiful day!

The main entrance to Fort McHenry. The flag is a replica of the original flag that was raised over the fort after the battle was over. Francis Scott Key saw this flag and that is how he knew that the United States had prevailed. The flag has only 15 stars, which was the number of states in the union at that time.

I took this picture of these massive cannons while I was standing on one of the ramparts, but I didn't know it until one of the National Park Service employees pointed it out. The ramparts are mentioned in the National Anthem ("O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming"). It is a bit of a stretch, but I guess a rampart could be considered a very sturdy fence!

One of the buildings inside the fort. This one contained barracks for soldiers and I will show pictures of the inside in another post.

Looking back at the fort while standing on another rampart with my back to the harbor.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

My niece spotted this Great Blue Heron while we were walking along the wooden promenade that runs along the edge of the water next to the head of the Chesapeake Bay in Havre de Grace, Maryland. A look at the next picture will show you just how far away he was before I zoomed in on him with my camera. He is standing on a big rock that is just under the surface of the water.

A family of geese was swimming by right in front of us when I took this shot of the bay from the promenade. The Great Blue Heron from the shot above is that tiny spot (I drew a small arrow pointing to him) way back there in the water just to the right of that tree. I took both of these pictures while standing in the same place.

A little further down the promenade is the Concord Point Lighthouse. I think this is the cutest and smallest lighthouse I have ever seen!

A closeup of the top of the lighthouse.

Across the street and behind the lighthouse is the Concord Point Keeper's House. A history of the lighthouse and the keeper's house can be found by going to this link.

After walking around town and browsing in a few of the antique shops, we ate an early dinner at the Tidewater Grille. The crab cakes were delicious and this was our view as we dined outside. You can see two Amtrack trains on the bridge coming towards each other (different tracks of course!) from opposite directions. This railroad bridge crosses the Susquehanna River right before it empties into the Chesapeake Bay. As you might have noticed from my pictures, it was a little cloudy when we first got there, but by the end of the day the sun had come out.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

I spent last week visiting family and attending my nephew's high school graduation near Baltimore, Maryland. We had a wonderful time and spent last Friday exploring the beautiful little seaside town of Havre de Grace, which is located in the northern part of the state where the Susquehanna River meets the head of the Chesapeake Bay. Here are a few pictures from my visit.

I just love how they decorated this cute Victorian house.

Here is one of its neighbors.

The Spencer-Silver Mansion Bed and Breakfast. You can see pictures of the inside and read more about the fascinating history of this beautiful old home here.

The original First National Bank building in downtown Havre de Grace is now used as an event venue. Read about the history of this building here.

Tomorrow I will show some more pictures of this charming town. Linking to Our World Tuesday.